Juan Manuel Lopez

Juan Manuel Lopez, Mexican featherweight champion Orlando Salido punished undefeated Juan Manuel Lopez with repeated bites right hand Saturday night, taking the WBO belt Lopez with a knockout impressive eighth round technical in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
Salido (2/11/1935, 23 KO) came on strong in the fifth round after being outslugged by Lopez from the beginning, playing the champion in the fifth. Turned on the power left in the eighth assault and struck Lopez (30-1, 27 KOs) in the corner with a flurry of punches, while Lopez was still getting hits when the referee Roberto Ramirez inexplicably stopped the fight in the mark of 1: 39 of the round.

At the time of arrest, judges Tom Miller, Lisa Giampa and Jose Torres had scored the fight even at 66-66, but dropped out almost twice landed blows to Lopez.

Lopez, fighting against a partisan crowd in his native Puerto Rico, was in trouble frequently during the last four rounds, sometimes appearing on their feet.

The fans were so upset by the strike that began to throw things into the ring, and Showtime announcer Al Bernstein was beaten with a bottle of water, but was unhurt.

“I came very prepared to fight the No. 1 featherweight champion of the world, and today I prepared great,” said a jubilant Salido. “I thought the fight was very even in the first four rounds, but I knew I had to put pressure on him because the fight was here at his home in Puerto Rico.”

When asked if Lee would give him a rematch, Salido said: “It depends on what the developer says.”

L? Pez, clearly not happy that the fight was stopped, said: “He was hitting me, but it should not have stopped the fight. He was still conscious.”

When asked why he could not stop Salinas’s powerful right hand all night, Lopez said, “He’s a very uncomfortable and realistic fighter that could have stopped the blow (which fell Lopez in the fifth round).”

Lopez scored a great fight and said he just got beat, but said he wants a rematch.